Fire Pits and Outdoor Fireplaces

Brick and stone veneer fireplaceThe chill of a night on the patio in early May. That campout in the backyard with the kids, with marshmallows and ghost stories. Friends and neighbors on a Saturday night in Summer, circled around, drinks in hand, sharing time together.

All of these things are made better with the warmth of a fire, either in a fire pit or outdoor fireplace built by Stonehenge.

What sets the fireplaces and fire pits built by Stonehenge apart from our competitors are the details. Very few of the landscaping companies in our area build fire pits and fireplaces using fire brick. Seems like an obvious thing, right?

outdoor fireplaces and fire pits

The reason fire brick are important is their heat dissipating properties. They are great at absorbing heat and dispersing it uniformly. They don’t hold moisture like concrete block can, which becomes important when the temperatures in your pit or fireplace reach 400 degrees and above. At these temperatures the water in concrete brick or block is quickly turning to vapor (steam), and it’s happening faster than the block can expell it. So within the pores of a concrete block that are holding this water while being exposed to the extreme heat, pressure is building. Fast.

The result? Usually, the concrete block will crack and break to release the excess pressure. Occasionally, the pressure release comes in the form of a small explosion, with block bits flying everywhere.

Masonry Fire Pit

We’d prefer your family and visitors stay safe when in your yard, enjoying a warm fire. So we line every fire pit and fireplace we build with fire brick or a steel fire ring (with air gap to allow for safe expansion of the steel when heated).

If you’d like to discuss how a Stonehenge-built fire pit or fireplace can increase the fun in your backyard, please contact us.